Temperatures in the teens, wind chills near zero, maybe even a snow shower.
Frosty forecasts are in play Sunday for the AFC and NFC championship games, with players and fans ready to bundle up in Chicago and Pittsburgh.
It could be around 13 degrees at kickoff when the Jets take on the Steelers at Heinz Field, and it might drop to about 8 degrees by the time they finish well after dark.
“It’s shaping up as one of the coldest games here that I can remember,” meteorologist Brad Rehak of the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said Friday, “going back to the 1970s with the Raiders-Steelers games.”
Rehak would know — he’s a longtime Steelers season-ticket holder who plans to be in the stands.
Wind chills, he said, would be about zero all game.
The conditions figure to be a bit warmer in Chicago, where the Packers play the Bears at Soldier Field. Maybe in the upper teens for the afternoon kickoff with wind chills in the upper single digits, and possibly some brief, passing flurries.
“It won’t be something like the legendary Ice Bowl,” said meteorologist Richard Castro of the National Weather Service in suburban Chicago.
Bills hire Wannstedt as assistant
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Dave Wannstedt, who spent the past six years coaching the University of Pittsburgh before he was forced to resign last month, was named an assistant head coach for the Bills.
Wannstedt, who coached the Dolphins and Bears prior to his stint with Pitt, is a defensive specialist. He will help oversee a defense that was last in the NFL against the run, allowing 2,714 yards rushing — the second- highest total in franchise history.
Jauron joins Browns as coordinator
CLEVELAND — Former NFL coach Dick Jauron, a well-respected 60- year-old who spent this season as Philadelphia’s secondary coach, was named defensive coordinator for the Browns.
Footnotes.
Titans quarterback Chris Simms rejected a plea deal after being charged with driving while high on marijuana, putting the case on track for a trial in New York as soon as March. Simms, a former backup for the Broncos, would have been spared jail and a criminal record if he took what prosecutors said was a last-chance offer to plead guilty to driving while his ability was impaired, a traffic infraction.
• Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford had surgery on his throwing shoulder, and the former No. 1 draft pick is expected to be ready for training camp.
